Parking brake assemblies are used in automotive vehicles to operatively engage the parking gear of a vehicle, thereby maintaining the vehicle in a parked position or state. Parking brake assemblies typically include a rotatable member or a parking pawl, which is selectively engaged by the actuator of the vehicle when the transmission of the vehicle is shifted into the parked position. When the actuator engages the parking pawl, the parking pawl pivots or rotates into a position to locate a portion of the parking pawl between a pair of teeth on the parking gear to substantially prevent further rotation of the parking gear and the output shaft. A return spring is typically connected to the parking pawl and causes the parking pawl to disengage from the parking gear when the actuator is retracted, i.e., when the vehicle is shifted out of the parked position. Parking brakes for automatic transmissions are generally known in the art. For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,974,752; 4,223,768; 4,576,261; 4,667,783; 4,671,133; 4,722,427; 5,685,406; 5,807,205; 5,934,436; 6,065,581; 6,290,047; and 7,556,135. Various component parts of a parking brake assembly are typically manufactured from large stock or castings requiring extensive machining operations to finish the blank into a final form of the desired part. Laminated gears are generally known in the art. For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,836,439; and 5,337,626. Laminated parking pawls are generally known in the art. For example, see FIG. 5 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,972,476. While each of these devices is generally suitable to perform the intended function, the component parts manufactured from large stock or castings for a parking brake assembly are expensive to manufacture due to the large amount of machining required to finish the blank into a final form of the desired part.